


The Details of Us

by Jaggy_Simp



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Explicit Language, Gay, Homophobic Language, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-06-28 00:26:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19800919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaggy_Simp/pseuds/Jaggy_Simp
Summary: In this universe, everyone has a soulmate. In the period of time leading up to meeting everyone receives specific details of how you will meet them. Billy Hargrove's  soulmate happens to be King Steve Harrington.





	1. Chapter One

When Billy Hargrove was the tender age of seven the first detail of how he would meet his soulmate appeared in his head. He knew that he would have a dangly earring in one ear, and that he would have a mullet. The image appeared in his mind when he was watching cartoons. He still lived in California, when his parents were still together. Life was good. All he wanted was to meet his soulmate and become a famous surfer. He didn’t have a whole lot to worry about. Everything was taken care of. Years passed, and he grew older and the day he would meet his soulmate grew closer and closer. His excitement also grew.

Then his mom left. After she left things got worse. His dad got angry, and he got angry at the drop of a hat. Billy was creeping around the house on eggshells. No matter how good he was, his father was always ready to give him a reason to regret everything. His father was always ready to make everything his fault. He hated it.  
Then his dad met Susan Mayfield. His dad would leave him alone at the house while he spent his time with Susan on a date or at work. Sometimes he would have to watch Susan’s daughter, Maxine or Max. She was only four years older than her, so he mostly just left her to her own. He daydreamed about his soulmate. Would she have long hair? Did she have her ears pierced? Sometimes he would plan out what he would say. He practiced in the mirror.

“Hi, my name is Billy? What’s yours?” He scowled at his reflection. “God! Why do I sound so dumb? What the hell?” From the other room Max called out.

“It’s because you don’t have any game loser!” Her eyes were focused on the TV. Billy scowled. He stuck his head out of the bathroom. “Fuck off, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” The scowl was set deep in his face when he stared at the clock. A groan left his mouth. “Shit, we still have two more hours before they come back.” Two hours of freedom before he spent the rest of the night in his room, trying to be invisible from his father.

“Hey, Max, I’m going to the boardwalk! I’ll be back before they get back. Don’t do anything dumb and burn the house down, shithead.” He grabbed his jacket off the back of the dining room chair and ran out of the house. He had two hours to kill, so he started walking down to the boardwalk. He loved being out by the ocean. With the smell of salt heavy in the air, he leaned on the railing and looked out at the waves rolling towards the shore. That’s when the second detail of when he would meet his soulmate appeared.

He was in a car. More specifically he was driving a 1979 Camaro. His left hand gripped the steering wheel and in the passenger seat, was Max. She looked annoyed. When he returned to reality, her annoyance stuck with him. Instead of focusing on her emotion, Billy thought back to the car. He was almost old enough to learn how to drive and he had been searching for a car to get. With a smile on his face he thought to the Camaro. The deep dark blue color called out to him. From that moment on, he decided it was his favorite color.

As he stared out across the waves, he could see the deep blue color. A small smile grew on his face. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket, it was a shitty iPhone 5S, but he was grateful for it. His smile disappeared A text from Max appeared. The simplicity was enough for him. “Get home shithead.” He had about twenty minutes to get home, otherwise he would be receiving an unpleasant present from his father Neil. A shudder ran through his body as he started sprinting home. The boardwalk wasn’t that far from home, but it was at least a fifteen-minute walk, so by sprinting that improved the chance of Neil leaving him alone. When he reached his street, he could tell that the car wasn’t in the driveway. Relief flooded his veins, but he didn’t stop until he was inside, with the door closed. Max was sitting on the couch watching TV. Billy was pressed against the door with his chest heaving. Without turning away from the TV, Max called out to him.

“That was a close call, you better be more careful next time.” Billy scoffed. He threw his jacket over the back of a dining room chair. “Shut up, I don’t need an eleven-year-old girl telling me what to do. Get off my dick and go back to your dumb cartoons.” Max rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning back to the TV. He headed towards his room and shut the door. His eyes glanced around the room until they landed on his shitty school computer he got when he was in middle school. He had some work to do if he wanted to get that Camaro.

The next week Billy started working at one of the fast food places along the boardwalk. When he got his workers permit, he immediately applied to every single place that would hire fifteen-year-olds. He would be sixteen in four months, but in those four months he needed to save up to buy the car of his dreams. Or rather buy the car in the detail he received.

One day when he was on his way to work, he passed a jewelry store. He wasn’t one to wear jewelry, but something about the store called out to him. He stopped in his tracks and checked the time. He still had a good fifteen minutes to get to work, and it was just down the street. So, he popped into the shop for a quick look around before his shift started. He started wandering around the shop and stole glances at the jewelry, nothing really caught his eye. Then he started looking at the earrings. His mind wandered to the detail. With the earring dangling from his ear. A hint of a smile grew on his face when he found the perfect one. He walked to the register and dug a few odd bills out of his pocket. The cashier put it into a small clear plastic bag. He pocketed the earring and headed to his job with a smile on his face.

When Billy got his ear pierced, he knew it would hurt, but he didn’t know that tears would roll down his cheeks. Since he was saving up to get the Camaro, he had to do it himself. He knew that if his father saw him with an earring, he would get his ass beat. However, the detail he received when he was seven was never forgotten. The feeling of the earring dangling from his ear as he drove was burned into him. So, he knew that he had to do it himself. He looked up a tutorial on the internet and the next thing he knew he was staring at himself in the mirror preparing for what he was about to do. At this point his hands were shaking. There was a needle on the sink, even though it was just a skinny piece of metal, he was shaking. Next to the needle, was the earring he picked out when he was at the boardwalk the other day. There was also a bottle of hydrogen-peroxide. He had already marked where he wanted the piercing to be, he could see the tiny mark he made with a Sharpie. His hair was out of the way. The wikiHow article said to use gloves, but he didn’t have any so he just hoped that clean hands would do.

When he had gathered all the materials he needed, he finally decided he would be ready. He used the lighter that he stole from Neil to sterilize the needle. The tip glowed red hot in his shaking hands. He grabbed the cork from the counter and held it against his ear. In his other hand, he held the needle. Billy wasn’t one to chicken out of stuff, but he was seriously tempted to call it quits and meet his soulmate without an earring. Then a rush of adrenaline flooded his veins. He had to do this. Otherwise the detail would be wrong, and those details were never wrong. When pierced his ear with the needle, there was a small pop, and then just pain. Billy took a deep breath in and tried not to scream. He took the needle out and put the earring in. For some reason, putting the earring in, hurt more than the initial piercing. His bottom lip slipped in between his teeth and he bit down hard to try and distract his brain from the pain of his piercing. He took deep breaths to try and calm down. His eyes met his reflection and he stared at himself in the mirror, admiring his handiwork.

Billy knew he was the reason that they were moving. He knew it was all his fault. This knowledge caused him to feel intense guilt. He was the reason that whenever Max looked at him, it was a death glare. When he was meeting with that guy, he should have been more careful. He should have taken all the precautions. He shouldn’t have just gone to an empty parking lot with his own car. When Harry was in the middle of it. A police officer walked up with his flashlight beam bouncing all over the place. He knocked on the window. That was what startled Billy out of the pure ecstasy he was experiencing. He jerked his legs up and Harry hit his head on the steering wheel.

“What the hell Bi- oh shit.” Harry looked up at the bright flashlight blinding the two of them. Billy buckled his pants back up and rolled the window down. He tried to sound confident, but his voice trembled.

“What can I do for you tonight officer?” The officer just stared at him and asked him to step out of the car. Getting arrested in a parking lot in the middle of the night, was not an ideal situation that Billy wanted to be in. He was certain Harry didn’t want to be in it either. Luckily, they were only being held until the morning.

When Neil showed up at the police station, he didn’t seem like he was angry. He just signed the release papers and stayed silent. The ride home, Neil stayed quiet. However as soon as they got home, Neil’s attitude immediately changed.

“Max, go to your room. Susan why don’t you take a walk. I want to talk to Billy in private.” He clapped a hand on Billy’s shoulder. Max scrambled off the couch and walked as fast as she could without running to her room. Susan grabbed her bag and when she left, she closed the door behind her. She didn’t say a word, she just glanced down at the floor. Neil turned his back to Billy. He exhaled loudly and turned back around.

“Do you want to tell me why I got a phone call from the police? Do you want to explain to me why you were with that boy in the parking lot?” As Neil spoke, his voice grew louder and his face grew more and more red. With the last word, he slammed his fist against his face. Billy stumbled back upon the impact. He knew it was coming and when it did, he fell backwards into the bookshelf. A few books fell from the top shelf and landed on his head. That would leave a mark if the hit didn’t. Neil picked him up and shoved him against the bookshelf, and more books fell. “Why in gods name would you think that this kind of behavior is okay? Do you think that I want a homosexual in my house? Well at least now I know why you have a goddamn piercing in your fucking ear. What if your soulmate is a girl? How do you think she’s going to feel when she knows that from the get-go, you don’t even want her? Thanks to you I can’t even show my face in this goddamn town anymore. How do you think people are going to react when they hear that my son is a fucking faggot?” While Neil was screaming in his face, he threw him around the living room. 

Every sentence or so, a punch or a kick would land somewhere on his body. Billy’s body felt more and more broken. He could feel a burning behind his eyes, and he knew that tears were threatening to escape, but he held them in. Neil landed one last kick to his ribs and ran his hands through his hair. “Go to your room Billy, I’ve had enough of seeing your face tonight. I just want you to know that everything that’s going to happen soon, is because of you.” He pointed at him with hatred in his eyes. Billy shrunk inside of himself, collected the shred of dignity he had left and held his broken body as he stumbled into his room. He shut the door quietly and fell onto his bed. He shoved his face into his pillow and quiet sobs escaped his mouth.


	2. Chapter Two

When their family arrived in Hawkins, Indiana, Billy immediately despised it. The only thing that was nice was absolutely nothing. He couldn’t find a single reason to enjoy it. He hated the weather, he hated the reason that they were even there, and he hated the fact that it wasn’t close to the ocean. Max hated it too. He could tell, that whenever she looked at him there was anger but also sadness. He knew that she missed California, hell he did too. When she needed a ride to the arcade, he took her there, and when she needed a ride back, he picked her up. When they were together there was this unspoken tension between the two of them. It radiated with hurt, anger, and pain.

Then school started, and they both had a reason to ignore each other. On the first day Billy dropped her off at Hawkins Middle School, and then he sped away to the high school. His Camaro’s engine purred nicely as he pulled into the parking lot near the school. In the parking lot he could see a group of people standing around. They were all watching him as he exited his car. He locked eyes with a brunette who had his arm around a girl who also had brown hair. The girl stared at him too, but he wasn’t focused on her, his attention was on the guy with his arm around her. His hair was long, but it was in great condition. He turned away from the group and headed into the school, ignoring their stares.

The weeks went by and Max was spending more and more time at the arcade. Billy didn’t know it, but she had made friends with a couple kids. On October 31st she even had plans to go trick-or-treating with them later that night after school had got out. When school got out, he waited for Max in the parking lot. When she skateboarded up to the car, he glared at her.

“You’re late shitbird, now get in the car.” He revved the engine as she got in and she barely had enough time to close the door before they exited the parking lot. As he was driving them home, he noticed that she had a small smile on her face. He glanced over at her.

“So now you just like this shithole of a town?” Her smile faded. She was quick to deny it

“What no, it sucks, and I miss California.” She looked out the window with a somber look on her face. He kept his eyes on the road and gritted his teeth. “Well who’s fault is it that we aren’t there anymore.” Max kept her eyes on the passing scenery. Without skipping a beat, she was quick to respond. “Yours.” Billy’s face flared red. “You better take that back. You redheaded bitch.” His foot pressed the gas pedal down as he yelled at her. Max took her eyes off the trees and glanced out the front window. She saw the three boys that she had befriended biking home. Her eyes grew wide. “Billy slow down. You’re going to get us killed.” He laughed. “No, I’m not.” His eyes landed on the three boys cycling up ahead. “Oh, you’re not worried about us, you’re worried about your little shitbird friends, aren’t you?” His foot pressed the pedal down more. One of the boys glanced behind him and yelled to the other two and they all started pedaling faster. “Billy, please slow down. Please.” Max was begging with him now. She had her hand on his arm. Billy whooped. “Isn’t this fun Maxine?” The Camaro was getting dangerously close to the boys. It was too close for comfort for Max. She swore that they almost hit one of them, so she decided to take things into her own hands. She reached over and grabbed the steering wheel and turned it away from the boys. The Camaro did a sharp turn and went into the other lane. Then Billy put on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt. In the distance, Max could see the boys pedaling away from the car. Billy slammed his hands against the steering wheel. “Don’t you ever touch my car again.” His words radiated anger and Max could almost feel the heat coming off them. He turned the car around and this time he passed the group and gave them plenty of room.  
That night Billy drove his Camaro over to Tina’s house for a Halloween party. He wasn’t super interested in going, but it gave him an excuse to not be at home. He parked his car down the road from the house and walked towards the house. He could hear the loud music and yelling from where he parked. He was quite surprised that no one had called the cops. He waltzed up to the front door and didn’t even bother to knock. He threw open the door and immediately was met with the stench of weed and booze. His upper lip curled up for a millisecond before throwing a smirking grin on. He was never really into the party scene when he was in Cali, but now that he was in Hawkins, he had to reinvent himself, so he could attempt to forget what had happened.

He made his way to the kitchen and filled a plastic cup to the brim with punch. He could smell the alcohol from it, but he slammed it, punch dripping down the sides of his mouth and onto his shirtless chest. He almost gagged at the burning sensation, but he just drew his sleeve across his mouth and wiped the punch off. He could already feel the buzz coming on. In one corner of the living room he could see the boy he had seen a month earlier. He was nursing a cup of the god-awful punch. Next to him was the girl. He assumed they were dating, but she looked pretty upset. Billy felt a hint of jealousy rise in him, but he pushed it down with another cup of punch. Outside there was a keg, and Tommy H. volunteered him to do it. So he did. What’s a little fun going to do?

“Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty-two. We have a new keg king Hawkins!” Tommy led him back inside and the crowd outside chanted his name. He took a puff from his cigarette. Tommy led him towards the brown haired couple. 

“We got a new keg king Harrington! Looks like you’ve been dethroned.” Tommy laughed in Harrington’s face and he walked away. Billy felt almost sorry for Harrington, but he was just trying to have fun. Besides, Harrington looked incredibly interested in the girl standing next to him, so why should he matter at all? He brushed past the couple and headed into the kitchen, to get another cup of the punch. He gulped it down. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Harrington come into the kitchen with his girlfriend. She grabbed a cup and slammed it, then went back for another. A look of worry flashed on Harrington’s face. He reached out to his girlfriend. 

“Woah, Nance, slow down. You don’t want to get carried away too soon.” She turned towards him.

“Isn’t this what we agreed on Steve? To just be stupid teenagers for the night?” She glowered at him before slamming the cup in her hand and going to the dance floor. Billy looked over at Steve. He took a hesitant sip of his drink. Steve just ran a hand through his hair and put his sunglasses back on and walked away. Steve didn’t even spare a glance in Billy’s direction. A wave of hurt flashed over Billy. He knew that Steve was supposed to be his soulmate. Whenever he glanced over at Steve, he felt his heart urge him to walk over and say something, anything. However, Billy curbed those urges, because he knew Neil would have some choice words for him on the topic of his soulmate. He pushed down the urge to talk to him, with another cup of punch. At this point Billy was seriously drunk. The room was spinning and he had to hold onto the counter to stay upright. Everyone else around him didn’t even pay attention to him. They were too busy making out with their boyfriends or girlfriends, or they were passed out drunk, or they were dancing their hearts out. Billy really wanted to go over and talk to Steve. Thankfully the alcohol in his system helped him. He stumbled across the room with yet another cup of that awful punch in his hand, although it didn’t taste so awful now. Steve was actually a whole lot closer than he thought and he walked right into him and spilled his punch all over him. 

“Oh my gosh, I am so so so so sorry. I thought you were a lot farther away.” Billy’s words were incredibly slurred. Steve looked at him with confusion.  
“Um, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal, there's a reason why I wore all black, that way the stains don’t show up.” Steve put his hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it awkwardly. Billy smirked. “So, how's it going?” Steve avoided his eyes. “Look, now is really not the best time to chat. I gotta go find my girlfriend Nancy. I need to go make sure she’s okay so um, I guess I’ll see you around.” He pushed past Billy and headed into the crowd of people, looking for Nancy. Billy looked down at his mostly empty cup. A hint of a frown appeared on his face. He wiped it off of his face and threw his cup on the ground. He had had enough of this dumb party. He checked the time on his phone and it was past midnight. Drunkenly he headed to his car. It took him a couple of tries to get the key into the ignition but he eventually got it. The Camaro roared to life and he pulled away from the curb and sped away. 

The day after the party, Billy had a killer hangover. He felt like someone was taking a jackhammer to his head. He could barely even remember what had happened last night. He only remembered leaving the party. Unfortunately, Billy had to go to school. That entire day he couldn’t pay attention in class, he was too busy focusing on how much his head hurt. 

During gym class the class had to play basketball and Billy was about to sit out, but the gym teacher put him in. On the opposite team was Steve. Billy frowned. He had a vague memory of talking to him at the party, but he wasn’t sure if he actually did. While he stared at Steve trying to recall if they actually even talked at all, someone passed the ball to him, catching him off guard. He stumbled a bit, but ended up catching it. He stared at the ball in his hands for a second, remembering that he was in gym class playing basketball. He dribbled the ball towards the basket, when a body slammed into him. He went sprawling across the wood floor. His head bounced on the floor like the basketball. He tried getting up but stars danced across his vision. A hand pushed him back down onto the floor. A wave of nausea passed over him and for the moment he could hold it off. Somebody lifted him up by his shoulders, they draped one of his arms over their shoulders. Again another wave of nausea came over him. He looked around the room, and everything was spinning out of control. He could barely control the urge to not throw up everywhere, but he contained it. He didn’t want to be that one kid who threw up all over the gym floor. He turned to see who was helping him and it was none other than King Steve. 

“Woah, hey there Stevie. Didn’t realize you did charity. Wish you would’ve told me you brought friends.” He pointed at the nonexistent person standing next to Steve.   
“Okay come on buddy, we gotta get you to the nurse’s office.” Steve tried to get him to walk, but Billy’s feet felt like cement. “I don’t think I can walk, my feet are cement.” Billy giggled at the obscurity. “Actually on second thought, I’m taking a nap.” Billy laughed one last time before his eyes rolled back in his head.   
When Billy woke up he was in the nurse’s office lying down. He shot up and immediately felt a stabbing pain in his head. He hissed in pain and pressed a hand to his head. Someone came up to him and placed a hand on his back. 

“Hey Billy, you good?” A voice echoed in his ears. He waved the person away. “Yeah, I’m fine. My head just hurts a little bit. What happened?” He opened his eyes and the room looked blurry. Last time he checked he didn’t need glasses. “You fell while playing basketball, well you were pushed, by me. I ran into you I guess. Sorry about that, but don’t you remember?” The bright fluorescent lights were hurting his eyes. He blinked several times and looked in the direction that the voice was coming from. “Wait what happened?” He squinted and tried to locate who was talking, but everything just blurred together. “I literally just told you. I bumped into you and you fell and hit your head on the floor during gym class.” The voice sounded exasperated. “I need to get back to class. I think I have geometry now?” He tried to get up but Steve pushed him back down. “Dude, you need to rest, I’m pretty sure that you have a concussion. So you’re not going back to class.” Billy groaned. “Fine, but I’m pretty sure I’m failing geometry so if I don’t graduate its going to be your fault.” He laid back down onto the cot. “What am I supposed to do now? I’m fucking bored.” Steve smiled. “Well at least you got me for company.” Billy chuckled. “Yeah that’s true. So wait, why are we in here again?” Steve sighed. “I’ve already told you twice. I’m not telling you again.” Billy groaned. “Fine, but whatever it is I’m blaming you.” Steve chuckled. “Whatever, just don’t overexert yourself, you could make your concussion worse, then you’d be in trouble.” Billy frowned, while he wanted enjoy this interaction with Steve, his father’s voice loomed in his head. “Do you think that I want a homosexual in my house?” He shook his head. “You know what I think I feel all better now, so I think I’m just going to go to class.” He stood up and almost fell back onto the bed. Steve grabbed onto his shoulders and tried to get him to sit back down. Billy shoved him off of him and stumbled backwards in the process. “I don’t need your help. Now I’m going to class and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. 

Billy made his way to his class. He almost fell several times and the hallways spun like a merry-go-round, but he didn’t want to spend another moment staring at Steve Harrington’s face with Neil’s voice mocking him in the background. He longed for the day when he could stare at Steve’s face without Neil even whispering in the background. Until then, he would have to simply ignore him, no he would have to make every second around him absolutely miserable. So miserable that neither of them would even want to spend a second with each other. He frowned. It would just have to do.


	3. Chapter Three

The following week as Billy was recovering from his concussion, he made sure to make Steve’s life miserable. He shoved past him in the hallway, and during gym class he would always be on his back. Constantly he would breathe down the back of his neck, even when he didn’t have to ball. As Billy was making his own life a living hell, Max was actually quite enjoying Hawkins. She had found a great group of friends. She was even pretty sure that she had met her soulmate. His name was Lucas Sinclair. 

One day after school got out she was heading to Billy’s car and Lucas pulled her into a hug. It felt warm, and nice. She smiled into his chest before heading towards Billy’s car. 

“Bye Lucas.” She called out towards him. 

“Bye Max!” He waved to her as she walked away. She got into Billy’s car with a smile. Billy sneered at her smile. 

“Why are you smiling?” Her smile faded. “It’s none of your business. Let’s go home.” Billy looked out the window to see Lucas waving towards the car. “Who’s that?” He grabbed onto her wrist. “You shouldn’t hang out with people like that. They’re bad news,” His grip on her wrist tightened, “I better not catch you hanging out with him or that group of nerds again.” She grabbed onto his hand and tried to pry it off. “Billy let go, you’re hurting me.” He looked at her. “Swear to me you won’t hang out with him again.” She struggled to get her wrist out of his hand. “Fine, I won’t hang out with him.” Billy released her hand from his grip and she cradled her wrist in her hand, rubbing it softly. He put his car in reverse and sped out of the parking lot. 

That night Lucas appeared outside Max’s window. He threw a pebble at it. It startled her. She opened the window and whispered harshly. 

“What are you doing out here, my brother is in the room right next door. He could hear you.” Lucas looked towards the other room, where he could hear the loud music from outside. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, but the party and I need your help. Grab your skateboard and lets go.” Max grabbed her skateboard and hopped out the window with Lucas’ help. 

Billy was trying to get the image of Steve out of his head. He did so by blasting his music as loud as he could without Neil yelling at him for it. So he didn’t notice Max leaving. However he did notice Neil pounding on his door. He jumped up off his bed and turned down his music. He opened his door and was face to face with Neil.   
“Have you seen your sister recently?” Neil practically growled at him. Billy shook his head. “No sir, isn’t she in her room?” Neil shook his head. He advanced towards Billy. In defense, Billy started backing up. He soon reached the wall and could no longer move. Neil pressed his arm onto Billy so he was stuck there. Billy didn’t move he just stared at him. “Well, that’s what I thought, but when I went into her room, she wasn’t there and her window was wide open. So what do you suppose happened to her?” Neil’s arm pressed into Billy’s windpipe just enough so that it made it a bit difficult to breathe. “I don’t know sir.” Neil pressed down harder. “Well maybe if you weren’t playing your music so damn loud you would have heard your sister sneaking out. Now if you don’t find her there are going to be some serious consequences.” He pressed down harder for a couple seconds and Billy found his vision start to go black, and he clawed at Neil’s arm. Then the pressure disappeared, and Billy found himself able to breathe normally again. He grabbed his throat and took a deep breath in. “When you come back, your sister better be with you. Now get out of here.” Neil sent a glare in Billy’s direction before heading into the living room. 

Billy drove through the streets of Hawkins blasting his music. He had no idea where his sister might be. First he drove to the arcade and she wasn’t there. After the arcade he was out of options. He tried to remember the names of the kids that she hung out with. He knew that one of them was Nancy’s brother. “Shit, what was her last name? Something with a ‘W’?” He said out loud. “Wheeler!” He pressed the gas pedal down to the floor and sped out of the parking lot. He arrived at the Wheeler’s house after a little bit of aimless driving trying to remember where it was. He had picked Max up there a few times before but he never really paid attention to it. He parked on the road by the front lawn and walked up to the front door. When he knocked he thought Nancy, or her brother would answer the door, but it was Mrs. Wheeler instead. 

“Hi, Mrs. Wheeler. It’s Billy Hargrove, and I was just wondering if you’ve seen my sister at all?” Billy gave her one of his signature smirks. Mrs. Wheeler bit her bottom lip. 

“Well, I don’t know where she is, but I do know that Mike is over at the Beyers’ place. Do you need directions?” A light blush was spreading over her face. Billy smiled. “Yeah that would be nice.” Mrs Wheeler pointed him in the right direction and once again he was off to go look for Max. 

He pulled into the Beyers’ long driveway and parked out front of their house. He waited for Max to come out, but she didn’t. Instead Steve came out. 

“Harrington? Is that you?” Steve scoffed and crossed his arms. “Yeah it’s me, don’t cream your pants.” At that point, Billy was incredibly grateful for the darkness, so Steve couldn’t see him blush. Billy chuckled. “Is Max in there?” Steve stayed where he was. “Why should it matter to you. Just go home Billy.” In the window he could see Max duck down underneath the window. Billy started inside. Steve tried to stop him, but he shoved past him. He opened the door to find Max and all the other kids as well. He looked at Max. 

“We gotta go. Neil’s wondering where you are.” Max just stood there, Lucas was in front of her and he held his arm out almost as if to protect her. “Who are you, her bodyguard?” He sneered at Lucas and took a step towards him. Lucas instinctively took a step backwards. He advanced again towards Lucas. A look of fear flashed across everyone’s face in the room. Max looked at Billy. 

“Billy. Please don’t. Just leave.” Billy laughed. “Where am I supposed to go? You and I both know what will happen if I show up at home without you. You and I both know what Neil will do. So come on let’s go.” He motioned towards the door. 

“Billy, I’m not leaving.” Lucas held his fists up as if to fight him off. That made Billy laugh. “Are you going to fight me off? Do you expect to win or is this just a facade.” Lucas’s stance faltered as Billy grabbed him by his shirt collar. For a second Billy wasn’t sure what he was doing. Was he really going to beat up a kid? He wound his arm up and it was about to slam into Lucas’s face, when Billy’s face made contact with a fist. Whoever punched him swung him around and he lost his grip on Lucas. Lucas stumbled off the floor and over to Max, who pulled him into a hug. Billy frowned, he wanted that, but instead he just got another punch to the face from Steve. Billy spun and almost fell, but he caught himself. He faced Steve, who had his fists up. 

“I didn’t know King Steve was a babysitter.” Steve threw another punch, and it almost hurt as much as one of Neils. Billy didn’t want to hurt Steve at all, but the more he thought about it, the louder Neil’s voice echoed in his head. So he threw a punch of his own. It almost knocked Steve off of his feet, and Billy winced. Then Neil’s voice played on a loop and he knew what he had to do. So he threw another, and another, and another. With each groan he heard from Steve, the quieter Neil was. Then Steve was on the floor, and he was straddling him, pummeling Steve’s face more and more. A few tears fell and he wasn’t sure if it was anger, or sadness, or pain. He was just about to land another punch, when something sharp was injected into his neck. He reached up and pulled a syringe out of his neck. He held it in his hand and looked behind him. He saw Max standing breathing heavily. “What did you do to me?” The room began to spin, and two more Maxes appeared next to her. He fell to the floor and his vision was consumed by darkness. 

When Billy woke up, he was alone. He called out Steve’s name first, and then Max’s, but there was no answer. He was still a little disoriented from whatever Max injected him with, but at least he could walk now. He walked to the kitchen to see if there was anything to drink. His mouth was as dry as a desert. He opened the fridge and a body fell out on top of him. He screamed as he fell backwards. He pushed the thing off of him and ran out of the house. Instead of seeing his car parked in front of the house, he saw darkness. He spun in a circle to see if maybe he parked it somewhere else. Then he realized that it was gone. Max must have taken it, or Steve, or one of the kids. He yelled into the darkness and started walking home, dreading what would happen when he walked in without Max.


	4. Chapter Four

The month that followed the fight between him and Steve, his relationship with Max grew difficult. It was already difficult, but now it was strained even more. She was angry that he almost beat the shit out of Lucas, and she was angry that he did beat the shit out of Steve. His relationship with Steve also didn’t grow any better. In fact there basically wasn’t a relationship. The two glared at each other in the hallway. He would shove past him and purposely bump into him. Billy practically had no friends. The only people that he would even consider calling friends were Tommy H. and Carol. Although calling the two “friends” was a bit of a stretch. All they wanted to do was talk shit about people and they loved to talk shit about Steve. It honestly annoyed the shit out of Billy, but what could he do? If his father knew that Steve was his soulmate, he would probably kill him. So he faked his laughs at Tommy’s terrible trash talk. He laughed along like he thought it was funny but deep down it hurt him to talk about Steve that way. 

After school, Max rolled up on her skateboard. Billy looked at her over the top of his sunglasses. 

“You’re late again shitbird. It better not be because of that Sinclair kid.” Max glared at him.

“So what if it is? What are you going to do about it? Threaten his life again? Go and try to kill Steve again? You know what you did was really mean. You really hurt Steve, and Lucas for that matter. I know Lucas hates you and I can probably say the same for Steve. You probably ruined your chance of ever talking to Steve again and I hope you know that.” She sent a death glare his way as she got into the car. The last sentence stabbed into Billy like a knife. He could feel the sharp words pass into him. It echoed in his ears the entire drive home and the rest of the night. It was all he could think of. He laid in his bed staring at the ceiling with the words bouncing around in his brain. Then he sat up straight. He had to apologize. He wanted to be reconciled with Steve. After all he was his soulmate. That night he went to sleep with thoughts of Steve Harrington on his mind. 

When he woke up the conversation he had with himself came into his thoughts. He had to apologize to Steve soon. He got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Susan was making pancakes. She turned around from the stove and smiled. 

“Good morning Billy. Did you want any pancakes?” Billy glowered at her as he opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice. He chugged it straight from the carton. She tsked at him and turned back towards the stove. Neil walked into the kitchen and sat down. The paper was already on the table, so he picked it up and started reading. Without looking up he directed his voice towards Billy. 

“Don’t drink out of the carton Billy.” Billy almost choked on the juice. He closed the carton and set it back in the fridge. “Yes sir.” He sat down at the table and Susan set a plate of pancakes in front of everyone. Neil still hadn’t glanced up from the newspaper, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around him. Max sat down next to Billy. She shot him a glare before shoveling pancakes into her mouth. A few minutes of silence passed before Max cleared her throat. Neil glanced up from the paper. 

“So, there’s a dance at school next weekend.” Neil looked at her. She twirled her fork on the plate. “And?” Max’s face flushed and she cleared her throat again. “I was wondering if I could go.” Neil folded the paper and sighed. Max looked down at her plate. She dragged a piece of pancake through the syrup on the plate. “Please? All my friends are going to be there. I’ll leave early, I don’t have to stay for the whole thing. Please?” She pleaded with him. Her eyes were wide. Neil took a drink of orange juice. He set the glass down and looked at Max. “How are you going to get there?” Max was quick to reply. “I’ll skateboard.” Her eyes were filled with pleading and determination. Neil scoffed. “You are not going to skateboard to school at night. Unacceptable. Billy will take you.” Billy dropped his fork. “What no! What if I have plans.” Neil’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t care. You’re taking your sister to this dance.” He pointed his fork at Billy. Billy looked down at his plate in silence. Neil sat back in his chair. “So it’s settled then. Max, have fun at the dance, and Billy I expect Max home at 10. No later. Otherwise there will be consequences.” He pointed his fork in a threatening manner. Billy just looked down at his plate.

During the following week, all Max talked about was the stupid dance. Snowball dance this, Snowball dance that. It was pissing Billy off. So instead of trying to care, he absorbed himself in working up the courage to apologize to Steve. They sat next to each other in chemistry and everytime he sat down, it was the first thing he thought about. He would always open his mouth to say something, but the words would get ensnared in his throat. Always coming to a halt right before he could get a single syllable out. So he gritted his teeth and worked on the chemical equations worksheet in front of him. He drowned out the noise of everyone else, the words of his apology floating around in his head. 

The day of the dance came quicker than Billy thought it would. He wasn’t expecting Max to come home with a new dress on Saturday, but she did. Max dragged the dress into her room with anger across her face. Billy wasn’t very close with Max, but he did know that she hated wearing girly clothes. He knew that she would probably end up wearing a nice sweater and a pair of jeans. Her mother would be livid, but she would let it slide. A few hours before the dance Billy spent the time lifting weights, and playing the words he imagined himself saying to Steve in his head. 

At 7:30 PM, Max was sitting in her room in front of her vanity. Her mother stood behind her and tried to tame her ferocious red hair. Unfortunately to her mother’s dismay, nothing worked. Finally, Susan just braided a small section of her hair to the side, and pinned a nice hair pin on top of the braid. Max looked at her hair in awe. It looked so nice. She smiled before getting up to give her mom a hug. “Thanks mom. It looks beautiful.” Susan smiled down at Max before breaking the hug and leaving the room. A few minutes later, Max went down the hall and knocked sharply on Billy’s door. Billy shouted from inside his room. “Gimme a minute.” He stared at his reflection while fixing his hair. Max pounded on his door again. “Hold on!” He sprayed cologne all over before walking out the door. “Okay let's go.” He walked to his car and Max followed him. 

The car ride to the dance was silent, except for the Metallica blasting from the radio. When they finally reached the school, Max glared at him while she opened the door. “Make sure to be out here by 9:45. Even though it's only a ten minute drive, if something happens, we have extra time to account for. Got it?” Max nodded and started walking over to the gym entrance. He could see Lucas and the other nerd kids standing around waiting for her. Billy was about to peel out of the parking lot and go to the quarry to get high, but then a maroon BMW pulled into the parking lot. His mouth almost dropped. He didn’t expect Steve to be at the dance, but then again, he was really close with that group of nerds. He closed his mouth when he realized that this was his chance to apologize to him. Apologize for being such a horrible person. One of the kids got out of his car, and just as the car was about to leave the parking lot, Billy honked his horn. The car screeched to a halt. Billy got out of his car and walked over to Steve’s window. Steve looked surprised to see him there. The surprise was washed off his face and was replaced with a glower. He rolled the window down. 

“What do you want Hargrove?” Steve looked tired. Like he just wanted to go home. For a moment, Billy regretted wanting to apologize. He regretted stopping Steve from going home, just so he could get the gratification of the apology. Instead of walking away he gritted his teeth and opened his mouth.  
“I wanted to say that I'm really sorry for what happened at the Beyer's house. I feel so terrible about it and I just wanted to say I'm sorry.” An awkward silence fell over the empty parking lot. Embarrassment settled inside Billy. He looked down at the ground and played with his hands. Steve just stared at Billy in shock.   
“Did you just apologize to me? Wait hold on, you’re actually sorry? Who the hell are you and what have you done with Billy Hargrove?” The shock hadn’t faded from Steve’s face. Billy’s face was still flooded with embarrassment, so he struggled a little bit but eventually words tumbled out. “Yes, I’m sorry okay? Is it really that surprising that I want to apologize? Do you really think I don’t have feelings or something like that Harrington?” Billy had thought that this apology would be the reconciliation to a new friendship with his soulmate, but reality shattered his dreams into a thousand pieces. He struggled to keep the disappointment off of his face. He don’t know how well he did but he sure hoped that Steve had no idea. Steve just gaped at Billy. His mouth was wide open like a trout. 

“Okay, well, I tried to apologize so if you don’t accept it that’s on you. I’m leaving. I’m sorry that my apology was too good to be true.” As Billy made his way back towards his car, Steve called out to him. “Wait! Billy, I’m sorry I was so quick to judge. It wasn’t fair of me to do that to you.” Steve stared at the ground just outside of his window. Billy stopped in his tracks. “It’s just what was I supposed to expect? I mean you’ve been trying to make my life hell for the last month and honestly, I’m not loving it.” Billy shuffled his feet. He looked Steve in the eyes. “Hate to derail the feelings dump princess, but do you maybe want to get out of here? We could go to the quarry, maybe get high, maybe talk about our feelings then? Whaddya say pretty boy?” Unbeknownst to Billy, Steve’s cheeks blushed when he called him pretty boy and princess. Steve gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Yeah, yeah sure. Let’s do that. I’ll follow you there.” Billy gave Steve one of his signature smirks before heading back to his car. 

As Billy drove towards the quarry, nerves and anxiety flooded his veins. He drummed his fingers against his steering wheel. His left leg bounced up and down. He stared at the two lights in his rear view mirror. He honestly couldn’t believe this was happening. That he was driving to the quarry, and Steve fucking Harrington was following him. That Steve fucking Harrington had actually accepted his apology. This whole situation made his head fucking spin in all different directions. His mind was so all over the place that he almost missed the quarry, he almost drove right past. Luckily he realized his mistake before it was too late. He pulled his steering wheel all the way to the right and his tires slid on the gravel. He thought for a second that his car was going to go over the edge of the quarry. He slammed on the brakes and his car slid to a stop. Steve was much more graceful as he pulled into the gravel patch by the quarry. His tires didn’t slide and he almost didn't go over. He just parked neatly, turned his car off, and stepped out of his car. Billy sat in his car for a second, breathing heavily. He almost wasn’t ready to face the situation. Although he really was looking forward to just being near him. After all they were soulmates. He reached over and opened his glove compartment. He pulled out his pipe, and a baggie, then he got out of his car. Steve was leaning against the Camaro. To Billy, he looked amazing, he wanted nothing more than to just pull him into a kiss right then and there, but he didn’t. He smiled and held the baggie. 

“Well, well, well, look who showed up. King Steve, what brings you to the quarry?” Steve chuckled. “Well, you see, I was just going to go home after I dropped Dustin off, but then this dude came up to me, and made this whole thing about this other thing, so here I am.” Billy smirks. He packed the bowl and grabbed his zippo out of his pocket. There was a scorpion on the side. He held the bowl to Steve. “Would you like the first hit your highness?” He wiggled his eyebrows and Steve chuckled before he took the bowl from Billy’s slightly trembling fingers. Steve held the bowl up to his lips and looked into Billy’s eyes through his ridiculously long lashes. “Are you going to give me a light or not?” Billy smiled as he flipped his zippo open and held the bright yellow flame to one of the corners. Steve inhaled the smoke and held it in his lungs. He parted his lips and blew the smoke out in an o. At that moment, Billy swore that his heart literally skipped a beat. Steve looked at Billy with his eyes half closed. He tilted his head back and leaned back against the hood of Billy’s Camaro. Billy physically bit down on his tongue to stop himself from telling Steve that he looked hot. Billy’s hands shook as he took the pipe back from Steve. They shook as he packed it once more. They shook as he lit it for himself. The first hit he took felt amazing. The feeling of relaxation washed over him like he was standing underneath a waterfall. He wanted to feel like this forever. He hopped onto the hood of his car and leaned back next to Steve. He would never admit it out loud, but he was enjoying this. It felt, nice. 

Steve looked over at Billy. His mouth opened and the words tumbled out like molasses, or at least that’s how it felt to him. “Why did you apologize?” With the help of Billy’s good friend, marijuana, his subconscious disappeared for a hot second and Billy was able to spit out the truth. “I honestly felt so bad. Like, every time I thought about the, um, fight. My stomach would churn and I felt like I was going to throw up.” Billy’s face paled again as his mind replayed the scene of the fight again in his head. “Then after the fight, Max just absolutely hated me, and I honestly don’t really want her to hate me.” His words slid off his tongue lazily and without effort. “I know everyone thinks I’m like a bad guy or whatever, but I don’t want people to think that I just don’t have feelings. I just felt so unbelievably bad about it, and I also want to say sorry for everything I’ve done to you this past month. It wasn’t the best decision on my part, and I’m really sorry for making your life a living hell.” 

At this moment, Billy wasn’t even a hundred percent sure what he was saying. He had a vague idea in his mind, but the exact context was slipping away and all he could think about was the fact that Steve’s hand was a few centimeters away from his own. His fingers twitched endlessly, longing to be intertwined. Billy stared up into the night sky, the stars twinkled. Next to him, Steve was soaking up his confession. 

To be honest, Steve was a bit surprised. He knew that Billy was a human being with feelings and stuff, but when he saw him walking down the halls, it seemed like he was just void of feelings. Steve turned and stared into Billy’s eyes. “Not gonna lie, but I’m kind of surprised. I know that you said that you have feelings, but when I see you in the hallways, it’s hard for me to imagine you like feeling sorry. But!” Billy frowned. Steve could see that Billy was uncomfortable. Billy shifted his position and picked at the skin around one of his fingernails. Steve reached out and put a hand on his arm. “But, I know it can be difficult to express your feelings, especially when your popular. Trust me I know.” Billy’s gaze softened and he looked up from the ground and met Steve’s eyes. 

The two were so close to each other. Billy could feel Steve’s breath as he exhaled. Billy wanted to grab Steve’s face and pull him into a deep kiss, and never let go of him. He almost did that, but then his phone rang. It jolted the two out of their ethereal state. A blush spread across Billy’s face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It was Max. 

“What do you want shitbird.” He didn’t see, but Steve frowned at the tone that he used to talk to Max. “Oh shit, you’re right, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just stay there.” He shoved his phone in his pocket. He looked up at Steve. “I’m sorry but I have to go and get Max. My dad has a really strict curfew. Sorry to cut the feelings dump short princess.” Billy was partially glad for the darkness so Steve couldn’t see how red his face was. 

“It’s okay, um. I had a fun time.” Steve rubbed the back of his head. Billy smiled. “Me too. Oh hey, do you want to get together and play basketball sometime? I could really use the extra practice. Especially since we have that big game coming up.” Steve nodded. “Yeah sure. How does after school on Thursday sound?” “That should work, I’ll just drop Max off and then meet you at the school.” Steve nodded. “Yeah see you then.” Billy smiled and then zoomed off in his Camaro.


End file.
